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Freestyle Mind, Personal Development </> 1 30 Habits that Will Change your Life Developing good habits is the basic of personal development and growth. Everything we do is the result of a habit that was previously taught to us. Unfortunately, not all the habits that we have are good, thats why we are constantly trying to improve. The following is a list of 30 practical habits that can make a huge difference in your life. You should treat this list as a reference, and implement just one habit per month. This way you will have the time to fully absorb each of them, while still seeing significant improvements each month. Health habits 1. *Exercise 30 minutes every day.* Especially if you dont do much movement while working, its essential that you get some daily exercise. 30 minutes every day are the minimum recommended for optimal health. 2. *Eat breakfast every day.* Breakfast is the more important meal of the day, yet so many people skip it. Personally, I like to eat a couple of toasts in the morning along with a fruit beverage. 3. *Sleep 8 hours.* Sleep deprivation is never a good idea. You may think that you are gaining time by sleeping less, when in reality you are only gaining stress and tiredness. 8 hours are a good number of hours for most people, along with an optional 20 minutes nap after lunch. 4. *Avoid snacking between meals.* Snacking between meals is the best way to gain weight. If you are hungry, eat something concrete. Otherwise dont. 5. *Eat five portions of fruits and vegetables every day.* Our body and brain loves getting vegetables and fruit, so I highly recommend eating as much of them as possible. Five portions is the dose thats usually recommended by many health associations. 6. *Eat fish.* Fish is rich of omega 3 and other healthy elements. At least one meal per week of fish should be enough for getting all these nutrients. 7. *Drink one glass of water when you wake up.* When you wake up, your body is dehydrated and needs liquid. Make the habit of drinking one glass of water after you wake up in the morning. Also, drink more during the day. 8. *Avoid soda.* Soda is often one of the most unhealthy beverage you can find. Limit your consumption of soda as much as possible and youre body will be grateful for that. 9. *Keep your body clean.* I dont advise spending your day in front of the mirror, but a minimum of personal care does never hurt. 10. *If you smoke, stop it.* Theres no reason to smoke anymore, and quitting is easy <http://www.freestylemind.com/how-to-quit-smoking>.

11. *If you drink, stop it.* Same as above. Dont think that alcohol will solve your problems. It never does. The only exception is one glass of wine per day during meals. 12. *Take the stairs.* This is just a hack that forces you to do a minimum of exercise. Instead of taking the elevator, take the stairs. Productivity habits 1. *Use an inbox system.* Make the habit of keeping track of all the ideas and things that comes to mind. You can use a notebook to do this, and then sync everything on your computer. 2. *Prioritize.* If you have a list of things to do, where do you start? One way is to prioritize your list. If you are in doubt, ask yourself: If I could only accomplish one thing today, what would it be? 3. *Plan, but not too much.* Planning is important, and you should decide in advance what you are going to do today or this week. However, planning for more than a few weeks is usually inefficient, so I would not worry too much about that. 4. *Wake up early.* Waking up early in the morning is a great way to gain extra time. I personally like to wake up at 5 am, so that by 9 am I have already accomplished what otherwise would have taken me many days.. 5. *Check your email only twice per day.* Email can easily become an addiction, but its usually unnecessary to check it every 10 minutes. Make an effort and check your email only once or twice per day, see if the world will still rotate as before after you try this. 6. *Eliminate unimportant tasks.* Being busy all day does not mean you are doing important stuff. Eliminate every activity thats not important, and focus on what really matters. 7. *Clean off your desk and room.* Having a clear room and desk is important to maintain focus and creativity. 8. *Automate.* There are a lot of tasks that you need to perform every day or every week. Try to automate them as much as possible. 9. *Set strict deadlines.* When you do something, decide in advance when youre going to stop. Theres a rule that states that you will fulfill all the time you have available for completing a task, so make an habit of setting strict deadlines for maximizing your productivity. 10. *Take one day off per week.* Instead of working every day, take one day off per week (for example sunday) where you are not going to turn on your computer. Use that time for doing recreational activities like going for a walk. Personal Development habits 1. *Read 1 book per week.* Reading is a good way to keep your brain active. With just 30 minutes per day you should be able to read one book per week, or more than 50 books per year. 2. *Solve puzzles.* Quizzes, word games, etc. are all good ways to exercise your brain. 3. *Think positively.* You are what you think <http://www.freestylemind.com/law-of-attraction/>, all the time. 4. *Make fast decisions.* Instead of thinking for one hour wherever you are going to do something, make your decisions as fast as possible (usually less than 1 minute). 5. *Wait before buying.* Waiting 48 hours before buying anything

<http://www.freestylemind.com/wait-48-hours-before-buying-anything> is a tremendous money saver, try it. 6. *Meditate 30 minutes per day.* A great way to gain clearness and peace is through meditation. 30 minutes are not a lot, but enough to get you started with meditation. Career habits 1. *Start a blog.* Blogging is one of the best way to put your word out. It doesnt have to be around a specific topic, even a personal blog will do. 2. *Build a portfolio.* If your job is creating stuff, building a portfolio is a great way to show what you are capable of. You can also contribute stuff for free if that applies to your work. What do you think? What are the habits that changed your life? Image credits (homepage) <http://www.flickr.com/photos/nattu/1385100375> Posted on March 19 2010 You should subscribe to the RSS feed here <http://feeds.feedburner.com/FreestyleMind>. What s next Doing any of the actions below makes you feel awesome! * Share on twitter <http://twitter.com/home/?status=RT%20@oscardelben%2030%20Habits%20that%20 Will%20Change%20your%20Life:%20http://bit.ly/bGj7Dx> * Share on stumble upon <http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http://www.freestylemind.com/30-hab its-that-will-change-your-life&title=30%20Habits%20that%20Will%20Change%20your%2 0Life> * Share on facebook <http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.freestylemind.com/30-habi ts-that-will-change-your-life&t=30%20Habits%20that%20Will%20Change%20your%20Life > Newsletter Join the once per month Freestyle Mind newsletter and receive exclusive content that you wont find on the blog. Comments Here are all the comments for this post. I d love to hear your opinion too. 1. AvatarDaniel <http://thedanielrichard.com> Says: March 19 2010 at 13:29 Im just gonna go make 8 hrs a day sleep a consistent habit. Terrible having 5 to 6 hours each day.

reply to this comment <#> * AvatarOscar <http://www.freestylemind.com/> Says: March 19 2010 at 14:32 Hey Daniel, yes thats terrible indeed. That should be your first priority. reply to this comment <#> 2. AvatarSrinivas Rao <http://www.theskooloflife.com> Says: March 19 2010 at 16:12 Oscar, I love this post. Im sure I do a good amount of these already, but just by adding a few to the list Im sure I could create some dramatic changes in my life. reply to this comment <#> * AvatarOscar <http://www.freestylemind.com/> Says: March 19 2010 at 17:47 Hey Srinivas, yes each of those is very powerful. I have still to implement many of them myself, but those are my target anyway. reply to this comment <#> 3. AvatarSid Savara <http://sidsavara.com> Says: March 19 2010 at 17:21 Hey Oscar, I think the key is making all these changes as you characterized them habits. It doesnt help to only work out occasionally, sleep 8 hours when its convenient etc Like you, when I implement changes in my life, I shake up my whole routine so these new changes become habits and stick with me. reply to this comment <#> * AvatarOscar <http://www.freestylemind.com/> Says: March 19 2010 at 17:49 Hey Sid, yes youre right. When I wrote this post I was thinking at habits that could be coexist together, otherwise you would have to choose which one to implement and which not. reply to this comment <#> 4. AvatarRyan <http://cashwithatrueconscience.com/rbblog> Says:

March 19 2010 at 17:51 Awesome insight Oscar. I practice most of your tips. Ive bumped up the meditation to 60 minutes a day. A 30 minute session morning and night. I notice more things, which enables me to be more productive while enjoying the ride. Meditation and at least 30 minutes of exercise would be #1 and #1a on my list. reply to this comment <#> * AvatarOscar <http://www.freestylemind.com/> Says: March 19 2010 at 20:37 Hey Ryan, those list are not in particular order, although many have may have more importance than others. reply to this comment <#> 5. AvatarPete Burden <http://www.conscious-business.co.uk> Says: March 19 2010 at 18:31 I wonder whether creating new habits to replace old is really the answer? Why not, instead, consider being more flexible and able to break out of habits more quickly. Id refer you to the work of psychologist Professor Ben Fletcher and his colleagues on habit breaking and the benefits of that. I have developed what is called a DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT (DSD) technique to facilitate change (basically changes in the persons behavioural flexibility are used to lever changes of mind and the greater deployment of willpower and effort). http://psydb.herts.ac.uk/staff_list/FMPro?-db=staff_list_email&-format=rec orddetail.html&-lay=details&-sortfield=surname&-max=2147483647&-recid=33595&-fin dall Pete reply to this comment <#> * AvatarOscar <http://www.freestylemind.com/> Says: March 19 2010 at 20:41 Hi Pete and thanks for your comment. I agree that being flexible is very important and being able to switch from one habit to another very quickly is a nice skill to develop. But I still think most of the habits I listed here are not a replacement for something else, but rather a way of living perhaps. Maybe the ones under productivity can be more subjective.

Oscar reply to this comment <#> 6. AvatarJen <http://www.reachourdreams.com> Says: March 19 2010 at 20:01 A great list you have here Oscar. I do most of these already and they all have made a big difference to my life (especially regular exercise). One I need to get back in the habit of doing regularly is meditating. I love it when I do it and feel so great afterwards but somehow let it go by the wayside. Also I am vegetarian so dont eat fish but do take veggie frinedly omega 3 to get my quota of that. reply to this comment <#> * AvatarOscar <http://www.freestylemind.com/> Says: March 19 2010 at 20:46 Hey Jen, talking about meditation, it will be my next 30 days challenge because I want to get back into the habit too. reply to this comment <#> AvatarDarby O Connor Says: March 19 2010 at 21:36 The Weekly Review has been a key habit. I know that Excersising daily is sure to spawn off many positive new habits. I would recommend this one to anyone who does not know where to begin personal development! Great summary of many effective habits! reply to this comment <#> 8. Social comments and analytics for this post <http://www.ubervu.com/conversations/www.freestylemind.com/30-habits-thatwill-change-your-life> Says: March 19 2010 at 23:15 This post was mentioned on Twitter by oscardelben: 30 Habits that Will Change your Life http://bit.ly/9bXtmm 9. AvatarBen Weston <http://creativecourage.org> Says: March 20 2010 at 02:12 Hey Oscar, Im a particular fan of waking up early and only checking email twice a day. Your experiment in waking up at 5am actually inspired me to do the same, well 6am actually. I love it! I get an

7.

incredible amount of work done, all before lunch. Thank you reply to this comment <#> 10. AvatarRenelda <http://mycollegedegreesucks-ren.blogspot.com/> Says: March 20 2010 at 05:27 I think i have sleep deprivation or insomnia. I do not recall sleeping for 8 hours. normally 4. I know it is bad but my mind is not at rest. I work 60 hours a week. I tried to think that if I am doing not doing nothing for personal development that I am wasting my life away. reply to this comment <#> 11. Avatartudza Says: March 20 2010 at 10:04 There is no reason to smoke anymore? Obviously you do not smoke a pipe. Quitting is certainly easy enough. I feel no compulsion to smoke when I am on family vacations or I am sick. reply to this comment <#> 12. Avatarmarius Says: March 20 2010 at 10:18 Health habits: Avoid snacking between meals. This is the worst suggestion ever. Its proven that eating between meals increases your metabolism, so its good to snack, but it really depends what your are snacking on, if its a jar of cookies, than probably better not to snack at all :) reply to this comment <#> 13. AvatarSudhir Khanger Says: March 20 2010 at 11:19 A student definitely need about 8 hours of sleep but after School, Job and self study you dont really get enough time and then you do need entertainment. reply to this comment <#> 14. AvatarMostafa Says: March 20 2010 at 11:49 Hey Oscar, I just stumbled upon this post and i find it to be extremely useful. I am an engineering student and a lot of these habits could turn my life around 180 degrees. I am a smoker, I sleep around 3 to 5 hours a day, I never have breakfast and i also have

poor am a like have hope time off.

planning schemes.The only thing i do is solve puzzles(since i computer engineer). I will start by doing the easy tasks, having breakfast, and getting enough sleep. As for smoking, I made a decision today that i am never smoking again, I just i stick to it. Developing good planning schemes may take some but i am willing to give it a shot, that will definitely pay Again thanks for this nice post Oscar.

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